Chelyabinsk's Traktor traded Sochi's defender for a forward

Traktor made an exchange of hockey players with the Sochi team.

According to the press service of the Chelyabinsk club, defender Ilya Nikolaev went south, and forward Andrei Nikonov went to Chelyabinsk. Nikolaev has 12 assists in 60 games for Traktor. Andrei Nikonov has different statistics - the hockey player played 51 matches for Sochi in the 2024/2025 season, during which he scored 9 points, scored 4 goals and gave 5 assists.

"Andrei Nikonov is a large 22-year-old forward who can play both on the attacking edge and in the center," comments Traktor General Manager Alexei Volkov. "He has already played three full seasons in the KHL and has established himself as a strong and aggressive forward who is always ready to stand up for himself and his teammates. Andrei will add height, mass and the necessary competition in the lower lines to Traktor."

Let us note that Andrei Nikonov was born in the city of Cheboksary. The player first played in the Kontinental Hockey League in 2019 as part of Torpedo. In the summer of 2021, he was traded to Moscow Dynamo, and in 2024 he moved to Sochi.

Ilya Nikolaev, whom Traktor thanked for his contribution to the team's overall result and wished good luck in his future career, is a product of Chelyabinsk hockey. He is currently 24 years old. He made his debut in the Kontinental Hockey League in 2020 as part of Magnitogorsk Metallurg, was then traded to Admiral, and then moved to Chelyabinsk Traktor.

Earlier on the topic: Forward Der-Arguchintsev signed a new contract with Chelyabinsk's Traktor.